Post a quote(with citation) that you think is particularly powerful/meaningful/etc from when Elie and his family are in the ghetto.
“That was when I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today” (19).
Post a secondquote (with citation) from anypoint in this chapter that you think is particularly powerful/meaningful/etc.
“He explained to me, with great emphasis, that every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer” (4-5).
Post this quote: “But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things” (7) and write your thoughts about its sad irony.
What I think about this quote’s sad irony is that the Jews of Sighet did not want to believe the horrors Moishe the Beadle spoke of because they probably couldn’t imagine that human beings would behave so evil towards their own kind. Such a thought was most likely against their moral beliefs and they did not want to accept it even though Moishe the Beadle spoke the horrifying truth. The Jews of Sighet probably knew it somewhere in their consciences that Moishe was telling the truth because as Elie Wiesel states in his book, Moishe was not the same after his experiences. The joy in his eyes were gone and he no longer sang, and so this new behavior would have probably alerted that the things Moishe had experienced were true and that it could happen to them. Regardless, they felt pity for him maybe because of the fact that Moishe was very destitute and leaving Sighet may have been traumatizing for him. However, the sad irony is that they were unfortunately going to experience Moishe’s similar experience not very long afterwards.
Partner B: Maya
“That was when I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today” (19).
This quote reflects how they were treated when they left their home, and traveled to the ghetto.They were being beaten and yelled at for not moving fast enough on their journey. These are the things that first made Elie hate the soldiers. It is clear that he still hates them today for how they treated himself and all of the other Jews, but he does not let that hatred run his life. He says that hatred is his only link to them, meaning he does not know what happened to those soldiers after the war or even after that moment, and does not care to know. They are simply a part of a terrible past and a terrible memory.
“But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things” (7)
Moishe was one of the first to be taken. He was not supposed to make it back. What the people did not know and did not want to believe was that he was telling of things to come and that these things were true. When people said that Moishe only wanted their pity and that he was imagining things, they were saying this to ease their own minds. If they had believed him and listened to him from the start, would more of them be alive today? Would they have been able to prepare and maybe even avoid being moved to the concentrationcamps?
Partner B: Alina
“He explained to me, with great emphasis, that every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer” (4-5).
I think that thepointof this was that what that all of the power with questions in the quest that you have to embark on to find the answer. And when you are on this quest you discover things that you would never have imagined. Once you find the answer the question loses thatsparkthat originally keeps you interested. With the holocaust there were differences with these questions. Sometimes you lose something during your life, but when you are forced to answer a question then you are sent out to find something not only about both who you were and who you have become, but also about who you want to be. When you are confronted with a question then you have to try to find an answer and on your journey to finding that answer you find yourself. So when you find the answer that you were looking for then you no longer can discover things about yourself and you no longer have anything to search for.
“But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things” (7)
I think that it was sad that no one believed Moishe. If they had they would of had the opportunity to flee and possibly hide, but what I find even harder to believe is that they just wrote him off as wanting their pity. They took his voice away from him, to the point where he no longer wanted to speak. They did not believe him and they did not want to listen to his stories. The people of the ghetto thought that they would never have to experience anything like that. The Nazis took Moishe's happiness from him and now his own people took his voice. They betrayed him and did not care. Whether he was crazy or not they still should have believed him. Someone should have cared.
* Chapters 2 and 3
Partner B: Elma
Post two quotes (with citations) from any point in these two chapters that you think are particularly powerful/meaningful/etc.
“Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes” (34).
“The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally, our illusions” (29).
What part of this book has surprised/affected you the most thus far (this can be in chapter 1, 2, or 3)? Post this part.
The part in Chapter 3 on page 41 about Elie's group's encounter with the young Polish man in charge of them there. It surprised me that the young Polish man first smiled at them as they came toward him. I had to pause over that because I thought that all Nazi guards were cruel and brutal (not to mention had no sense of humor), but when Elie said that he smiled at them, I figured that the guard had smiled at them to mock them- that his smile was not sincere. But, when the guard talked, he addressed them as comrades, gave them advices, told them not to lose hope, and then he bid them a good night. After reading what the guard had said, I was even more surprised, but after thinking about it, I realized that the guard was actually good-natured and was not mocking the Jewish prisoners. My realization was confirmed when Elie said that the guard's words were the first human words he had heard during his experience at the Nazi camps. Below, I've posted the part I'm talking about:
"After a few minutes racing madly, we came to a new block. The man in charge was waiting. He was a young Pole, who was smiling at us. He began to talk to us and, despite our weariness, we listened attentively.
'Comrades, you are now in the concentration camp Auschwitz. Ahead of you lies a long road paved with suffering. Don't lose hope. You have already eluded the worst danger: the selection. Therefore, muster your strength and keep your faith. We shall all see the day of liberation. Have faith in life, a thousand times faith. By driving out despair, you will move away from death. Hell does not last forever...And now, here is a prayer, or rather a piece of advice: let there be camaraderie among you. We are all brothers and share the same fate. The same smoke hovers over all our heads. Help each other. That is the only way to survive. And now, enough said, you are tired. Listen: you are in Block 17; I am responsible for keeping order here. Anyone with a complaint may come to see me. That is all. Go to sleep. Two people to a bunk. Good night.'
Those were the first human words" (41). Make a list of things (in any chapter you have read so far) that are unfamiliar, confusing, not totally clear … Think about vocabulary (foreign words and terms), geography, practices of the Jews or their captors, people mentioned, etc. Put a page number for each item.
Moishe the Beadle- when he left, where did he go or was he too captured, again?... (pg. 10)
Talmud- a sacred text?... (pg. 3)
Kabbalah- a sacred text?... (pg. 4)
Maimonides- a Jewish rule?... (pg.4)
Zohar- ancient Jewish practice?... (pg. 5)
Mrs. Schachter- how did she see the flames when no one else could? (pg. 28)
Rebbe- a name for a Rabbi's brother? (pg. 36)
Kapo- a Hungarian or Polish guard? (pg. 38)
Blockalteste- a guard...? (pg. 44)
Hasidic- Jewish type of song...? (pg. 45)
Maya Schattgen
Choose one of the quotes posted by your partner to analyze and reflect upon. Write a paragraph+ in response to the quote.
“The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally, our illusions” (29).
This quote is saying that all the Jews' valuables that they had kept with them up until that point have now been taken away from them. They were never going to be able to see them again. Along with that, the people had realized that whatever they had believed beforehand was not actually going to happen. It's almost as if they lost hope. This quote makes me feel sad and depressed. They had taken away all their valuables that they had been carrying with them since the beginning just like everything else they owned that was taken away. The tangible things along with hope. I compare what happened to what happens to a child when he gets a toy taken away; it's unfair because these things are what they value most.
What part of this book has surprised/affected you the most thus far (this can be in chapter 1, 2, or 3)? Post this part.
So far chapter three has affected me the most. On page 29, Elie is separated from him mom and younger sisters. In Auschwitz the Jewish families were separated by gender and age of the children. Elie had to go with his dad while his sisters went with his mom. He didn't realize at the time, but he was never going to see his mom and Tzipora again. This part upset me because I don't think I could ever leave my brothers and my dad. It would really make me sad.
Choose 2 or 3 things from your partner’s list that intrigue you. Look them up and paste urls for where further information can be found about them.
http://www.kabbalah.com/ We learned that Kabbalah is linked to the Judaism religion. It is a set of teachings or way of thinking.
Alina Arnatt- Nestor Partner A: Alina Choose one of the quotes posted by your partner to analyze and reflect upon. Write a paragraph+ in response to the quote.
“Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes” (34).
This quote tells us about how the holocaust changed him. How is destroyed who he was before and how he will not be able to fully depend on the god and faith that he once held near to him. With all of this the things that he dreamed about and wished for disappeared because he thought that he would never be able to see freedom again and even if he did he would never be able to accomplish what he wanted to do in the first place. His hopes and dreams were shattered when reality came crashing down on him and his family.
What part of this book has surprised/affected you the most thus far (this can be in chapter 1, 2, or 3)? Explain why.
I was surprised/ affected when they got to the concentration camp and he saw the babies being thrown into the fire. and also when he was deciding on whether or not to kill himself because he did not want to be burned to death. He was thinking about killing himself because he did not want to slowly burn to death. He ended up not going to the pit of flames, but instead to a barracks.
Choose 2 or 3 things from your partner’s list that intrigue you. Look them up and paste urls for where further information can be found about them.
Why did Elie Wiesel open his introduction with Moishe the Beadle- how was he an effective intro for this book:
- Because he used Moishe to foreshadow what would later happen to the Jews of Sighet
- So it hurt the reader to know what had happened to him
Classanswers:
*It was important to understand that when people were being taken away- the jews still didn't care and did not think much about it; pushed the issue away from their minds and made excuses (4 years into the war, people belived that nothing was happening)
It introduces the Jewish culture- Elie wants to explain who the Jews were in truth- not what the Germans said
What does the title Night mean? - darkness
- loneliness
- fear
- emptiness
- lost
- entrapped
- never-ending
- big
- don't know what's going to happen
- miserable
- cold
-death
-despair
That the night figuratively represents the way Elie felt during his days in the Nazi Camps. He identified with that part of the day because he felt that they were the longest and miserable times.
Chapter 4 Partner A: Elma
Post one quote (with citation) from any point in this chapter that you think is particularly powerful/meaningful/etc.
“Where He is? This is where-hanging here from this gallows” (65).
Wiesel almost overwhelms us with his descriptions of his concentration camp experiences. Choose one experience he describes that sticks out in your mind (from any point in the book) and explain: (a) the experience: The experience is in chapter 4 on page 54. It is the paragraph in which Wiesel witnesses his father being brutally beaten by Idek with an iron bar when they were loading diesel motor onto freight cars. (b) the effect of the experience on Wiesel:
Wiesel just watched his father being beaten without moving and kept silent. He also thought of sneaking away in order to not suffer from a beating himself. Even more, he felt angry not at Idek, but at his weak father. c) the effect of reading about the experience on you:
After reading this experience, I was not surprised at how it affected Wiesel. This is because situations like this had happened before (at least once) - where his father would be assaulted and he would just watch and be silent with fear. I also found myself being mad at Wiesel-not for him not moving to aid his father, but I was mad that he felt anger towards his helpless and weak father and not at his father’s assaulter- Idek.
Maya
“Where He is? This is where-hanging here from this gallows” In this moment they are talking about where is God and the noses are hanging a little boy. A man ask where is God but if you can't believe that god is there in the bad time in your life then he might not be there in the good times. Elie answered the mans question in his head and Elie was saying that God is watching over them and he is there for the good and the bad moments in life. God is there every step of the way.
At one point in the story, Wiesel describes standing in a mud pit with his father. Wiesel is wearing new shoes and is worried that he will be caught with new shoes, but as soon as they step into the mud his new shoes no longer appear new, so this worry leave him. They are to stand, not sit, not bend their knees, just stand. Wiesel's father needs to use restroom and when he asks his guards for permission he is greeted with a slap across the face. Wiesel realizes at this point that he can do nothing to help his father and he is left feeling empty from this knowledge. As he stands in his new shoes, in the mud unable to help the man he loves most in the world, he realizes that the concentration camp has forever changed who he is and how he thinks. This is a big realization for a boy not yet a man. He has lost his childhood and he has lost more than he will ever realize, but most of all he has lost his ability to stand up for what he believes safely.
As I read this part of the story, although I could never imagine living like Wiesel, I can see where not being able to speak your mind or to stand up for someone you love would be difficult. In today's world, often our peers say things that are unkind and often we stand by afraid of not being popular or of being the next "victim" of the unkind words. I know that I would not be slapped for my words, but I might be laughed at or worse have the mean words said about me. This is not the same fear that Wiesel felt, but it is a fear non the less. As I read about the mud pit, the story wasn't really about the torture, but more about the change in Wiesel and his ability to protect those he loved. Losing the opportunity to protect my brothers, my friends, my parents would be very difficult. I have always known that they would be there for me no matter what and I would want the chance to be there for them always.
Alina
“Where He is? This is where-hanging here from this gallows” This quote is very powerful in the context of the story. This is the moment for many Jews within the concentration camps when their god was killed. When this child is killed in such a horrific manner. This part of the book really makes you open your eyes and see how cruel the Nazis are and it also showed the prisoners that if they could do this to a child then they would definitely kill anyone. This shows innocence dying within the camps. This is also the dying of hope and the crashing down of reality onto each person in the camps. You could not imagine this happening right now, but it is hard to imagine even when you think about the holocaust.
Wiesel almost overwhelms us with his descriptions of his concentration camp experiences. Choose one experience he describes that sticks out in your mind (from any point in the book) and explain: (a) the experience, (b) the effect of the experience on Wiesel, and (c) the effect of reading about the experience on you.
The experience that sticks out in my mind was when they thought they were going to the crematorium. Wiesel had just met Dr. Mengele for the first time, after answering questions he was sent to the left. He looked back and saw that his father was sent to the left also. Then after walking a little bit an inmate went over to the group and asked them if they were satisfied and someone answered yes. Then the other inmate said "Poor devils, you are heading for the crematorium.". Then they saw flames coming up from a ditch. After this a truck came up with a truck load of children that were then thrown into the ditch. As they get closer Weisel was deciding whether or not to kill himself. Luckily he did not. People were saying prayers for their death. This was extremely scary for Wiesel. He was even thinking of killing himself so he would not have to slowly die in the flames. He did not want to die then and this helps show how the camps effect your thoughts on whether you want to live or die. At one point Wiesel decides that he does not care whether or not he dies.
This effected me because it made me scared with the prisoners. It made me feel like I was there. I could not imagine this happening to me ever, but this part made you think about it. What if one person was in charge of your fate? Dr. Mengele was in charge of the fate of millions of people. If you were sent down the wrong path then you would definitely be dead. This one person determined whether you lived or died. Then to have someone come up to you and tell you that you are going to die. And that the manor in which you were going to die was so horrific. That you were going to burn to death. Then to think about killing yourself because you don't want to slowly burn. I can hardly imagine anything like that, but with this book you have to.
Chapter 5 Maya partner B It has been said that a person's eyes are windows into the soul. Find the passage where Elie describes the eyes of Akiba Drumer – quote it with a citation here.
"His eyes were suddenly go blank, leaving two gaping wounds, two wells of terror" (76).
Post one quote (with citation) from any point in this chapter that you think is particularly powerful/meaningful/etc.
"Next to me lay a Hungarian Jew suffering from dysentery. He was skin and bones, his eyes were dead. I could just hear his voice, the only indication that he was alive. Where did he get the strength to speak?" (78).
Alina Partner B It has been said that a person's eyes are windows into the soul. Find the passage where Elie describes the eyes of Akiba Drumer – quote it with a citation here.
"His eyes would suddenly go blank, leaving two gaping wounds, two wells of terror." (76), "His eyes glazed" (76)
Post one quote (with citation) from any point in this chapter that you think is particularly powerful/meaningful/etc.
"My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long. In the midst of these assembled for prayer, I felt like an observer, a stranger." (68)
Partner A: Elma
It has been said that a person's eyes are windows into the soul. Reflect on the quote about Akiba Drumer posted by your partner.
Why does Drumer lose his will to live?
Because he said that he could no longer fight, had no more strength, and most significantly- had no more faith. As soon a he began to doubt his faith, he lost his will to fight and opened the door for death.
How about Elie?
Like Drumer, Elie does lose his faith in God but instead of losing hope and succumbing to the idea of death, he uses his lost faith to gain strength through accusing God and not idolizing God anymore. That new way of thinking and frustration is what dissuades him from thinking about death.
Is there a difference between the two?
Yes.
Why or why not?
Because Elie doesn't lose his will to live. Instead, his priority and the basic factor that drives him to live is knowing that his father is alive and thus, he can be with him. Also, thinking about God's failures is also what keeps him going in a sense- as a defiant stance.
Chapters 6 and 7
Partner A: Elma
Post one quote (with citation) that you feel is particularly powerful/meaningful/etc about Elie and his father.
"My father's presence was the only thing that stopped me. He was running next to me, out of breath, out of strength, desperate. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support" (86-87).
Post another quote (with citation), but this time about another father/son pair.
"Stunned by the blows, the old man was crying: 'Meir, my little Meir! Don't you recognize me...You're killing your father...I have bread...for you too...for you too...' He collapsed. But his fist was still clutching a small crust. He wanted to raise it to his mouth. But the other threw himself on him. The old man mumbled something, groaned, and died. Nobody cared. His son searched him, took the crust of bread, and began to devour it" (101).
Maya partner B Reading the two quotes your partner has selected, reflect on fathers and sons in this autobiography. There are different things that you see between father and son. There are parts where the sons need their fathers and fathers need their sons. For example Elie and his dad depend on one another and look after one another so if one were to die then the other does not see the point in living. But also there are parts where the son is beating the dad because that is what the concentration camps have done to the people inside them. They're turning on the family just because they need food. There is a part in the book where they are in a train car and fighting over a piece of bread and the dad gets a piece of it to share with his son but the son tackled his dad and killed him just for the bread that he was going to get some in the first place.
Alina Partner B Reading the two quotes your partner has selected, reflect on your fathers and sons in this autobiography. The bond of fathers and sons in the concentration camps was crucial to survival for a lot of people. Without these bonds there would not be hope for a lot of fathers and sons. This gave them something to live for and it keeps them from going crazy. It gave both fathers and sons someone to love and someone to depend on even though the overall feeling in the concentration camp was fear, agony and despair. This was their one connection to life outside the concentration camps, that connection was the love that they were able to bring into the camp for each other. For some people this connection was the only thing that kept them alive, but for others this connection faded and they were so desperate to survive that they were willing to kill their own fathers. These people might have loved their fathers, but they really wanted to live. This is where the life and death decisions come into play. What would you do? Would you stay with your father or mother even if doing so might have meant that you died? I would like to think that I would, but as I read more about the holocaust I am not so sure. These are the questions that you never want to have to answer or even let come into your mind. But these were the questions that faced these fathers and sons in the concentration camps. I don't think many of us could imagine having your father coming up to you saying that he has possibly been selected to die or killing your own father for scraps of bread, but these were the realities that were faced by these people. The shadow of hate, anger and sadness that will never leave these people and if they do then they are just hiding waiting to strike when they are at their weakest. Just like the Nazis.
Chapters 8 and 9
Partner B Maya
If you had to point to one paragraph, page, passage ..., in this novel (from any chapter) which affected you the most, what would it be? Quote it with a citation.
"One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto.
From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.
The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me" (115).
Describe your feelings at the end of this novel.
First and foremost, I was sad. I was sad from the beginning of the novel. I knew that it was going to be sad story and I knew that there wasn't going to be a happy ending. It is rare to see stories from this time period with happy endings. However, it made me both happy and relieved that Elie survived. Elie's father did not end up living until the end and I just wanted him to get better so the Elie would not be alone and he had made it to the end of the war he was so close. It also was sad that Elie did not get a chance to say goodbye to him. I am glad that I had the chance to read Night. Reading the story of Wiesel's experience has opened a lot of windows into the world of the Holocaust. It is different from other stories I have read about this time period.
Partner B Alina "If you had to point to one paragraph, page, passage ..., in this novel (from any chapter) which affected you the most, what would it be? Quote it with a citation.
When I came down from my bunk after roll call, I could see his lips trembling; he was murmuring something. I remained more than an hour leaning over him, looking at him, etching his bloody, broken face into my mind." (112)
Describe your feelings at the end of this novel. At the end of this novel I was very sad. I also wanted to hear more, I wanted to know more about Elie Wiesel and I wanted him to tell us more about his life after the holocaust. The end of this book really makes you think about what is important in your life. Think about the most important person in your life and then imagine having to go through the holocaust with them, then right before you are liberated that person dies. It is almost impossible to imagine because we have never been through anything that is even close to the holocaust. Elie lost almost everyone in his family and now his father is dead. After Elie was liberated he had to go to the hospital and he talks about how he looked in the mirror and he said "From the depths of the mirror , a corpse was contemplating me"(115). I think with this he meant that he did not recognize himself, who he had become. How the holocaust has transformed him.
Partner A:Elma
If you had to point to one paragraph, page, passage ..., in this novel (from any chapter) which affected you the most, what would it be? Quote it with a citation.
"All around me, there was silence now, broken only by moaning. In front of the block, the SS were giving orders. An officer passed between the bunks. My father was pleading: 'My son, water...I'm burning up...My insides...' 'Silence over there!' barked the officer. 'Eliezer,' continued my father, 'water...' The officer came closer and shouted to him to be silent. But my father did not hear. He continued to call me. The officer wielded his club and dealt him a violent blow to the head. I didn't move. I was afraid, my body was afraid of another blow, this time to my head. My father groaned once more, I heard: 'Eliezer...' I could see that he was still breathing-in gasps. I didn't move. When I came down from my bunk after roll call, I could see his lips trembling; he was murmurring something. I remained more than an hour leaning over him, looking at him, etching his bloody, broken face into my mind. Then I had to go to sleep. I climbed into my bunk, above my father, who was still alive" (111-112).
Describe your feelings at the end of this novel.
At the end of the novel, I felt unsatisfied. This is because I thought that Elie should have described (or included) a bit more about his emotions, the atmosphere in the camp when the American liberators came, and the emotions of the liberators once they got inside the camp. I also thought that it was very sad that Elie's father- who had died so cruelly, did not make it when it was a few months until he and his son would be liberated together after all they had been through and all the horrible times they had shared and stood by one other. Overall, I wanted a bit more and thought that Elie shouldn't have made his book so light, a fast-read because I felt that it devalued the impact of his book. I felt that his book would have made a much more bigger impact on me if it included more detail and events. Of course, the book made me sad, especially after reading how Elie's father was crushingly beaten to death and was left with a bloody, broken face. When Elie described that event, I empathized with why he was unable to make himself go and aid his father. Let's face it, I would have been scared, too. For me, chapter eight was the most tragic chapter I feel I have read. To realize that what could have been an almost perfect, and heroic ending (with Elie's father still being able to live longer so that he would see the day of his and his son's liberation) could have been, but was destroyed by the actions of a cruel officer shattered my heart and put my spirits down. Elie and his father were so close! I appreciated reading the book and thought it had a lot of powerful quotes and meanings behind it that made it a powerful testimony. What a novel! I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude for Wiesel for sharing his heart-breaking, but inspirational story. Thank you.
Sincerely, Elma Adusei.
Final Reading Reflection
“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death” (Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Speech, December 1986).
Partner A and Partner B:Meet together to discuss this quote now that you know how the Holocaust shaped Elie Wiesel into who he is today. On your wiki page, record your shared understanding of what Elie Wiesel wants us to feel about indifference. We will share these in class.
We think what Elie Wiesel wants us to feel about indifference is that the opposite of things is really what we don't care about or think is not important. We also think that the message Elie was trying to relay was that indifference, the lack of interest or concern, is what made the world silent about the Holocaust because the world either didn't care or was not concerned about what was happening to the Jews in Europe. So, today, that is why he has sworn to never be silent and indifferent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation for example when the woman was throwing coins at the children and then they fought over the coins and the woman found it funny. The people of Germany didn’t care about what was happening in the concentration camps. As long as it didn’t happen to them.
Partner A: Elma
“That was when I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today” (19).
“He explained to me, with great emphasis, that every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer” (4-5).
What I think about this quote’s sad irony is that the Jews of Sighet did not want to believe the horrors Moishe the Beadle spoke of because they probably couldn’t imagine that human beings would behave so evil towards their own kind. Such a thought was most likely against their moral beliefs and they did not want to accept it even though Moishe the Beadle spoke the horrifying truth. The Jews of Sighet probably knew it somewhere in their consciences that Moishe was telling the truth because as Elie Wiesel states in his book, Moishe was not the same after his experiences. The joy in his eyes were gone and he no longer sang, and so this new behavior would have probably alerted that the things Moishe had experienced were true and that it could happen to them. Regardless, they felt pity for him maybe because of the fact that Moishe was very destitute and leaving Sighet may have been traumatizing for him. However, the sad irony is that they were unfortunately going to experience Moishe’s similar experience not very long afterwards.
Partner B: Maya
“That was when I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today” (19).
This quote reflects how they were treated when they left their home, and traveled to the ghetto.They were being beaten and yelled at for not moving fast enough on their journey. These are the things that first made Elie hate the soldiers. It is clear that he still hates them today for how they treated himself and all of the other Jews, but he does not let that hatred run his life. He says that hatred is his only link to them, meaning he does not know what happened to those soldiers after the war or even after that moment, and does not care to know. They are simply a part of a terrible past and a terrible memory.
“But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things” (7)
Moishe was one of the first to be taken. He was not supposed to make it back. What the people did not know and did not want to believe was that he was telling of things to come and that these things were true. When people said that Moishe only wanted their pity and that he was imagining things, they were saying this to ease their own minds. If they had believed him and listened to him from the start, would more of them be alive today? Would they have been able to prepare and maybe even avoid being moved to the concentrationcamps?
Partner B: Alina
“He explained to me, with great emphasis, that every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer” (4-5).I think that thepointof this was that what that all of the power with questions in the quest that you have to embark on to find the answer. And when you are on this quest you discover things that you would never have imagined. Once you find the answer the question loses thatsparkthat originally keeps you interested. With the holocaust there were differences with these questions. Sometimes you lose something during your life, but when you are forced to answer a question then you are sent out to find something not only about both who you were and who you have become, but also about who you want to be. When you are confronted with a question then you have to try to find an answer and on your journey to finding that answer you find yourself. So when you find the answer that you were looking for then you no longer can discover things about yourself and you no longer have anything to search for.
“But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things” (7)
I think that it was sad that no one believed Moishe. If they had they would of had the opportunity to flee and possibly hide, but what I find even harder to believe is that they just wrote him off as wanting their pity. They took his voice away from him, to the point where he no longer wanted to speak. They did not believe him and they did not want to listen to his stories. The people of the ghetto thought that they would never have to experience anything like that. The Nazis took Moishe's happiness from him and now his own people took his voice. They betrayed him and did not care. Whether he was crazy or not they still should have believed him. Someone should have cared.
*
Chapters 2 and 3
Partner B: Elma
Post two quotes (with citations) from any point in these two chapters that you think are particularly powerful/meaningful/etc.
What part of this book has surprised/affected you the most thus far (this can be in chapter 1, 2, or 3)? Post this part.
The part in Chapter 3 on page 41 about Elie's group's encounter with the young Polish man in charge of them there. It surprised me that the young Polish man first smiled at them as they came toward him. I had to pause over that because I thought that all Nazi guards were cruel and brutal (not to mention had no sense of humor), but when Elie said that he smiled at them, I figured that the guard had smiled at them to mock them- that his smile was not sincere. But, when the guard talked, he addressed them as comrades, gave them advices, told them not to lose hope, and then he bid them a good night. After reading what the guard had said, I was even more surprised, but after thinking about it, I realized that the guard was actually good-natured and was not mocking the Jewish prisoners. My realization was confirmed when Elie said that the guard's words were the first human words he had heard during his experience at the Nazi camps.
Below, I've posted the part I'm talking about:
"After a few minutes racing madly, we came to a new block. The man in charge was waiting. He was a young Pole, who was smiling at us. He began to talk to us and, despite our weariness, we listened attentively.
'Comrades, you are now in the concentration camp Auschwitz. Ahead of you lies a long road paved with suffering. Don't lose hope. You have already eluded the worst danger: the selection. Therefore, muster your strength and keep your faith. We shall all see the day of liberation. Have faith in life, a thousand times faith. By driving out despair, you will move away from death. Hell does not last forever...And now, here is a prayer, or rather a piece of advice: let there be camaraderie among you. We are all brothers and share the same fate. The same smoke hovers over all our heads. Help each other. That is the only way to survive. And now, enough said, you are tired. Listen: you are in Block 17; I am responsible for keeping order here. Anyone with a complaint may come to see me. That is all. Go to sleep. Two people to a bunk. Good night.'
Those were the first human words" (41).
Make a list of things (in any chapter you have read so far) that are unfamiliar, confusing, not totally clear … Think about vocabulary (foreign words and terms), geography, practices of the Jews or their captors, people mentioned, etc. Put a page number for each item.
Maya Schattgen
Choose one of the quotes posted by your partner to analyze and reflect upon. Write a paragraph+ in response to the quote.
“The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally, our illusions” (29).
This quote is saying that all the Jews' valuables that they had kept with them up until that point have now been taken away from them. They were never going to be able to see them again. Along with that, the people had realized that whatever they had believed beforehand was not actually going to happen. It's almost as if they lost hope. This quote makes me feel sad and depressed. They had taken away all their valuables that they had been carrying with them since the beginning just like everything else they owned that was taken away. The tangible things along with hope. I compare what happened to what happens to a child when he gets a toy taken away; it's unfair because these things are what they value most.
What part of this book has surprised/affected you the most thus far (this can be in chapter 1, 2, or 3)? Post this part.
So far chapter three has affected me the most. On page 29, Elie is separated from him mom and younger sisters. In Auschwitz the Jewish families were separated by gender and age of the children. Elie had to go with his dad while his sisters went with his mom. He didn't realize at the time, but he was never going to see his mom and Tzipora again. This part upset me because I don't think I could ever leave my brothers and my dad. It would really make me sad.
Choose 2 or 3 things from your partner’s list that intrigue you. Look them up and paste urls for where further information can be found about them.
http://www.kabbalah.com/ We learned that Kabbalah is linked to the Judaism religion. It is a set of teachings or way of thinking.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/kapos.html Kapos helped out SS guards and were sometimes Jewish prisoners themselves.
Alina Arnatt- Nestor
Partner A: Alina
Choose one of the quotes posted by your partner to analyze and reflect upon. Write a paragraph+ in response to the quote.
- “Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes” (34).
- What part of this book has surprised/affected you the most thus far (this can be in chapter 1, 2, or 3)? Explain why.
I was surprised/ affected when they got to the concentration camp and he saw the babies being thrown into the fire. and also when he was deciding on whether or not to kill himself because he did not want to be burned to death. He was thinking about killing himself because he did not want to slowly burn to death. He ended up not going to the pit of flames, but instead to a barracks.This quote tells us about how the holocaust changed him. How is destroyed who he was before and how he will not be able to fully depend on the god and faith that he once held near to him. With all of this the things that he dreamed about and wished for disappeared because he thought that he would never be able to see freedom again and even if he did he would never be able to accomplish what he wanted to do in the first place. His hopes and dreams were shattered when reality came crashing down on him and his family.
Talmud- a sacred text?
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14213-talmud
Zohar- ancient Jewish practice?
http://www.kabbalah.info/engkab/mystzohar.htm
Why did Elie Wiesel open his introduction with Moishe the Beadle- how was he an effective intro for this book:
- Because he used Moishe to foreshadow what would later happen to the Jews of Sighet
- So it hurt the reader to know what had happened to him
Classanswers:
*It was important to understand that when people were being taken away- the jews still didn't care and did not think much about it; pushed the issue away from their minds and made excuses (4 years into the war, people belived that nothing was happening)
What does the title Night mean?
- darkness
- loneliness
- fear
- emptiness
- lost
- entrapped
- never-ending
- big
- don't know what's going to happen
- miserable
- cold
-death
-despair
Chapter 4
Partner A: Elma
Post one quote (with citation) from any point in this chapter that you think is particularly powerful/meaningful/etc.
“Where He is? This is where-hanging here from this gallows” (65).
Wiesel almost overwhelms us with his descriptions of his concentration camp experiences. Choose one experience he describes that sticks out in your mind (from any point in the book) and explain:
(a) the experience:
The experience is in chapter 4 on page 54. It is the paragraph in which Wiesel witnesses his father being brutally beaten by Idek with an iron bar when they were loading diesel motor onto freight cars.
(b) the effect of the experience on Wiesel:
Wiesel just watched his father being beaten without moving and kept silent. He also thought of sneaking away in order to not suffer from a beating himself. Even more, he felt angry not at Idek, but at his weak father.
c) the effect of reading about the experience on you:
After reading this experience, I was not surprised at how it affected Wiesel. This is because situations like this had happened before (at least once) - where his father would be assaulted and he would just watch and be silent with fear. I also found myself being mad at Wiesel-not for him not moving to aid his father, but I was mad that he felt anger towards his helpless and weak father and not at his father’s assaulter- Idek.
Maya
“Where He is? This is where-hanging here from this gallows”
In this moment they are talking about where is God and the noses are hanging a little boy. A man ask where is God but if you can't believe that god is there in the bad time in your life then he might not be there in the good times. Elie answered the mans question in his head and Elie was saying that God is watching over them and he is there for the good and the bad moments in life. God is there every step of the way.
At one point in the story, Wiesel describes standing in a mud pit with his father. Wiesel is wearing new shoes and is worried that he will be caught with new shoes, but as soon as they step into the mud his new shoes no longer appear new, so this worry leave him. They are to stand, not sit, not bend their knees, just stand. Wiesel's father needs to use restroom and when he asks his guards for permission he is greeted with a slap across the face. Wiesel realizes at this point that he can do nothing to help his father and he is left feeling empty from this knowledge. As he stands in his new shoes, in the mud unable to help the man he loves most in the world, he realizes that the concentration camp has forever changed who he is and how he thinks. This is a big realization for a boy not yet a man. He has lost his childhood and he has lost more than he will ever realize, but most of all he has lost his ability to stand up for what he believes safely.
As I read this part of the story, although I could never imagine living like Wiesel, I can see where not being able to speak your mind or to stand up for someone you love would be difficult. In today's world, often our peers say things that are unkind and often we stand by afraid of not being popular or of being the next "victim" of the unkind words. I know that I would not be slapped for my words, but I might be laughed at or worse have the mean words said about me. This is not the same fear that Wiesel felt, but it is a fear non the less. As I read about the mud pit, the story wasn't really about the torture, but more about the change in Wiesel and his ability to protect those he loved. Losing the opportunity to protect my brothers, my friends, my parents would be very difficult. I have always known that they would be there for me no matter what and I would want the chance to be there for them always.
Alina
“Where He is? This is where-hanging here from this gallows”
This quote is very powerful in the context of the story. This is the moment for many Jews within the concentration camps when their god was killed. When this child is killed in such a horrific manner. This part of the book really makes you open your eyes and see how cruel the Nazis are and it also showed the prisoners that if they could do this to a child then they would definitely kill anyone. This shows innocence dying within the camps. This is also the dying of hope and the crashing down of reality onto each person in the camps. You could not imagine this happening right now, but it is hard to imagine even when you think about the holocaust.
Wiesel almost overwhelms us with his descriptions of his concentration camp experiences. Choose one experience he describes that sticks out in your mind (from any point in the book) and explain: (a) the experience, (b) the effect of the experience on Wiesel, and (c) the effect of reading about the experience on you.
The experience that sticks out in my mind was when they thought they were going to the crematorium. Wiesel had just met Dr. Mengele for the first time, after answering questions he was sent to the left. He looked back and saw that his father was sent to the left also. Then after walking a little bit an inmate went over to the group and asked them if they were satisfied and someone answered yes. Then the other inmate said "Poor devils, you are heading for the crematorium.". Then they saw flames coming up from a ditch. After this a truck came up with a truck load of children that were then thrown into the ditch. As they get closer Weisel was deciding whether or not to kill himself. Luckily he did not. People were saying prayers for their death. This was extremely scary for Wiesel. He was even thinking of killing himself so he would not have to slowly die in the flames. He did not want to die then and this helps show how the camps effect your thoughts on whether you want to live or die. At one point Wiesel decides that he does not care whether or not he dies.
This effected me because it made me scared with the prisoners. It made me feel like I was there. I could not imagine this happening to me ever, but this part made you think about it. What if one person was in charge of your fate? Dr. Mengele was in charge of the fate of millions of people. If you were sent down the wrong path then you would definitely be dead. This one person determined whether you lived or died. Then to have someone come up to you and tell you that you are going to die. And that the manor in which you were going to die was so horrific. That you were going to burn to death. Then to think about killing yourself because you don't want to slowly burn. I can hardly imagine anything like that, but with this book you have to.
Chapter 5
Maya partner B
It has been said that a person's eyes are windows into the soul. Find the passage where Elie describes the eyes of Akiba Drumer – quote it with a citation here.
"His eyes were suddenly go blank, leaving two gaping wounds, two wells of terror" (76).
Post one quote (with citation) from any point in this chapter that you think is particularly powerful/meaningful/etc.
"Next to me lay a Hungarian Jew suffering from dysentery. He was skin and bones, his eyes were dead. I could just hear his voice, the only indication that he was alive. Where did he get the strength to speak?" (78).
Alina Partner B
It has been said that a person's eyes are windows into the soul. Find the passage where Elie describes the eyes of Akiba Drumer – quote it with a citation here.
"His eyes would suddenly go blank, leaving two gaping wounds, two wells of terror." (76), "His eyes glazed" (76)
Post one quote (with citation) from any point in this chapter that you think is particularly powerful/meaningful/etc.
"My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long. In the midst of these assembled for prayer, I felt like an observer, a stranger." (68)
Partner A: Elma
It has been said that a person's eyes are windows into the soul. Reflect on the quote about Akiba Drumer posted by your partner.
Why does Drumer lose his will to live?
- Because he said that he could no longer fight, had no more strength, and most significantly- had no more faith. As soon a he began to doubt his faith, he lost his will to fight and opened the door for death.
How about Elie?Is there a difference between the two?
- Yes.
Why or why not?Chapters 6 and 7
Partner A: Elma
Post one quote (with citation) that you feel is particularly powerful/meaningful/etc about Elie and his father.
- "My father's presence was the only thing that stopped me. He was running next to me, out of breath, out of strength, desperate. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support" (86-87).
Post another quote (with citation), but this time about another father/son pair.Maya partner B
Reading the two quotes your partner has selected, reflect on fathers and sons in this autobiography.
There are different things that you see between father and son. There are parts where the sons need their fathers and fathers need their sons. For example Elie and his dad depend on one another and look after one another so if one were to die then the other does not see the point in living. But also there are parts where the son is beating the dad because that is what the concentration camps have done to the people inside them. They're turning on the family just because they need food. There is a part in the book where they are in a train car and fighting over a piece of bread and the dad gets a piece of it to share with his son but the son tackled his dad and killed him just for the bread that he was going to get some in the first place.
Alina Partner B
Reading the two quotes your partner has selected, reflect on your fathers and sons in this autobiography.
The bond of fathers and sons in the concentration camps was crucial to survival for a lot of people. Without these bonds there would not be hope for a lot of fathers and sons. This gave them something to live for and it keeps them from going crazy. It gave both fathers and sons someone to love and someone to depend on even though the overall feeling in the concentration camp was fear, agony and despair. This was their one connection to life outside the concentration camps, that connection was the love that they were able to bring into the camp for each other. For some people this connection was the only thing that kept them alive, but for others this connection faded and they were so desperate to survive that they were willing to kill their own fathers. These people might have loved their fathers, but they really wanted to live. This is where the life and death decisions come into play. What would you do? Would you stay with your father or mother even if doing so might have meant that you died? I would like to think that I would, but as I read more about the holocaust I am not so sure. These are the questions that you never want to have to answer or even let come into your mind. But these were the questions that faced these fathers and sons in the concentration camps. I don't think many of us could imagine having your father coming up to you saying that he has possibly been selected to die or killing your own father for scraps of bread, but these were the realities that were faced by these people. The shadow of hate, anger and sadness that will never leave these people and if they do then they are just hiding waiting to strike when they are at their weakest. Just like the Nazis.
Chapters 8 and 9
Partner B Maya
If you had to point to one paragraph, page, passage ..., in this novel (from any chapter) which affected you the most, what would it be? Quote it with a citation.
"One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto.
From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.
The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me" (115).
Describe your feelings at the end of this novel.
First and foremost, I was sad. I was sad from the beginning of the novel. I knew that it was going to be sad story and I knew that there wasn't going to be a happy ending. It is rare to see stories from this time period with happy endings. However, it made me both happy and relieved that Elie survived. Elie's father did not end up living until the end and I just wanted him to get better so the Elie would not be alone and he had made it to the end of the war he was so close. It also was sad that Elie did not get a chance to say goodbye to him. I am glad that I had the chance to read Night. Reading the story of Wiesel's experience has opened a lot of windows into the world of the Holocaust. It is different from other stories I have read about this time period.
Partner B Alina"If you had to point to one paragraph, page, passage ..., in this novel (from any chapter) which affected you the most, what would it be? Quote it with a citation.
When I came down from my bunk after roll call, I could see his lips trembling; he was murmuring something. I remained more than an hour leaning over him, looking at him, etching his bloody, broken face into my mind." (112)
Describe your feelings at the end of this novel.
At the end of this novel I was very sad. I also wanted to hear more, I wanted to know more about Elie Wiesel and I wanted him to tell us more about his life after the holocaust. The end of this book really makes you think about what is important in your life. Think about the most important person in your life and then imagine having to go through the holocaust with them, then right before you are liberated that person dies. It is almost impossible to imagine because we have never been through anything that is even close to the holocaust. Elie lost almost everyone in his family and now his father is dead. After Elie was liberated he had to go to the hospital and he talks about how he looked in the mirror and he said "From the depths of the mirror , a corpse was contemplating me"(115). I think with this he meant that he did not recognize himself, who he had become. How the holocaust has transformed him.
Partner A: Elma
If you had to point to one paragraph, page, passage ..., in this novel (from any chapter) which affected you the most, what would it be? Quote it with a citation.
"All around me, there was silence now, broken only by moaning. In front of the block, the SS were giving orders. An officer passed between the bunks. My father was pleading:
'My son, water...I'm burning up...My insides...'
'Silence over there!' barked the officer.
'Eliezer,' continued my father, 'water...'
The officer came closer and shouted to him to be silent. But my father did not hear. He continued to call me. The officer wielded his club and dealt him a violent blow to the head. I didn't move. I was afraid, my body was afraid of another blow, this time to my head. My father groaned once more, I heard:
'Eliezer...'
I could see that he was still breathing-in gasps. I didn't move. When I came down from my bunk after roll call, I could see his lips trembling; he was murmurring something. I remained more than an hour leaning over him, looking at him, etching his bloody, broken face into my mind. Then I had to go to sleep. I climbed into my bunk, above my father, who was still alive" (111-112).
Describe your feelings at the end of this novel.
At the end of the novel, I felt unsatisfied. This is because I thought that Elie should have described (or included) a bit more about his emotions, the atmosphere in the camp when the American liberators came, and the emotions of the liberators once they got inside the camp. I also thought that it was very sad that Elie's father- who had died so cruelly, did not make it when it was a few months until he and his son would be liberated together after all they had been through and all the horrible times they had shared and stood by one other. Overall, I wanted a bit more and thought that Elie shouldn't have made his book so light, a fast-read because I felt that it devalued the impact of his book. I felt that his book would have made a much more bigger impact on me if it included more detail and events. Of course, the book made me sad, especially after reading how Elie's father was crushingly beaten to death and was left with a bloody, broken face. When Elie described that event, I empathized with why he was unable to make himself go and aid his father. Let's face it, I would have been scared, too. For me, chapter eight was the most tragic chapter I feel I have read. To realize that what could have been an almost perfect, and heroic ending (with Elie's father still being able to live longer so that he would see the day of his and his son's liberation) could have been, but was destroyed by the actions of a cruel officer shattered my heart and put my spirits down. Elie and his father were so close! I appreciated reading the book and thought it had a lot of powerful quotes and meanings behind it that made it a powerful testimony. What a novel! I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude for Wiesel for sharing his heart-breaking, but inspirational story. Thank you.
Sincerely, Elma Adusei.
Final Reading Reflection
“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death” (Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Speech, December 1986).
Partner A and Partner B:Meet together to discuss this quote now that you know how the Holocaust shaped Elie Wiesel into who he is today. On your wiki page, record your shared understanding of what Elie Wiesel wants us to feel about indifference. We will share these in class.
We think what Elie Wiesel wants us to feel about indifference is that the opposite of things is really what we don't care about or think is not important. We also think that the message Elie was trying to relay was that indifference, the lack of interest or concern, is what made the world silent about the Holocaust because the world either didn't care or was not concerned about what was happening to the Jews in Europe. So, today, that is why he has sworn to never be silent and indifferent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation for example when the woman was throwing coins at the children and then they fought over the coins and the woman found it funny. The people of Germany didn’t care about what was happening in the concentration camps. As long as it didn’t happen to them.